A trip to Paris

Hello dear reader, it’s been a long time because I’ve been doing a megabook, but it’s mostly finished now so I wanted to write to you! I just got off the Eurostar from Paris where my family and I spent three nights.

Our children had never seen the city so we decided it was time to show them the wonders of Paris. However, one of my kids claims to hate museums, and given the choice they would both opt to spend all day watching people making capybaras out of sushi rice on YouTube, so I needed some very tempting offers to coax them out of their teenage and pre-teen ennui. I asked Instagram and this is what people suggested:

What a brilliant list! I had also read about these little wooden boats you can hire in the Tuileries that you push around the pond with sticks, I thought that sounded great, and a French friend of mine suggested going up the Arc de Triomphe, it’s quite affordable and you get amazing views. And I wanted to take them to Chartier, that beautiful old restaurant with cheap food where I remember the waiters being really rude. I last went when I was a student and I thought they’d love the interiors, even if they couldn’t be tempted by a couple of trotters or a calf’s head.

Day 1: We arrived in the afternoon, our apartment was by La Republique and when we got out of the metro we discovered that the whole of the Place de la Republique had been turned into a free public games area, with the kinds of games you might find at a fete, plus chess and other board games, a huge collection of duplo, bricks and dressing up costumes. It was full of families and old people and young people all playing together. I couldn’t see anyone on their mobile phone.

In the evening we went to Chartier. This restaurant has been open since 1896 and was originally a worker’s eatery, designed to be affordable and quick. You can’t book and you have to queue but the queue goes fast. We had delicious steak and chips and a carafe of wine and some very strange puddings which only cost couple of euros so it didn't really matter. Our waiter was wonderful and friendly and not at all rude. 10/10 for Chartier.

Day 2: We went to the Arc de Triomphe where I’d booked tickets in advance. When we arrived there was a sign saying it was closed and our money would be refunded. I did a drawing of a woman taking a photograph of the Arch. Then we went to the Tuilleries to sail the little boats. The kids loved it and momentarily shed their teenage shrouds.

Lunch in the park in the sun. 10/10 for the Tuilleries.

Back to the Place de la Republic for more sketching and games. I got a lot of attention from a very friendly man so had to make my excuses and leave. Nice drink in the Marais followed by a dismal dinner in a sad noodle bar because the kids couldn’t be persuaded to walk any further.

Day 3: We went to the Eiffel Tower where I enjoyed watching people taking selfies. I tried to photograph them like Martin Parr does but my photos weren’t interesting. The kids ran out of steam and we had a picnic in the sun on the banks of the Seine. Daughter refused to eat anything apart from a Pringles sandwich. Son cried because he wanted a proper lunch in a cafe. My partner took them back to the air b&B where they watched people make pikachu bento boxes on YouTube and I went to Deyrolle, a curiosity shop near the Musee D’orsay which was recommended to me by Harriet Lowther. Climb the stairs and you’re in a taxidermy shop, full of beautiful beasts that should be running or flying or leaping from tree to tree but here they are, dead and stuffed and perfect for me to draw. But I was a bit overwhelmed so did some not-very-good sketches, you’ll have to go there for yourself to see the full glory.

Then I failed to get into the Musee D’Orsay AND the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution because I hadn’t booked a ticket and I learned that you really do need to plan ahead in Paris. In the evening we went to Montmartre to show the kids the Sacre Coeur and try and glimpse the Eiffel Tower twinkling. We passed the magnificent fabric shops that Lisa Stickley told me to look out for and headed to Nakatsu for delicious fried chicken which I found on this website that my foodie pal Emma Farrarons recommended. On the way home the kids laughed at the sex shops and I hoped they wouldn’t ask too many questions about the Eiffel Tower dildo they spotted in a window.

Day 4: I managed to book tickets for the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution, recommended by several people including Florian Belmonte. It’s a stunning museum. I didn't tell the kids where we were going and sugared the pill with a trip to a horrible shopping centre where we looked at nasty plastic pumpkins and animatronic zombies. Once I’d levered them into the museum my daughter and I did a five minute sketch together, I thought this was just a warm up but she got bored and went off to find a real stuffed capybara then came and sat at my feet while I drew this:

Then we went back to the Gare du Nord and I drew them while they ate burgers.

Thank you for coming to Paris with me, and thank you to all the people who took the time to send in their recommendations!

I’ve also had some reader questions which I was going to answer below but Substack informs me that I’m running out of space so i’ll try and answer them in notes!

Thank you so much if you’ve read right to the bottom or this epic newsletter. I have a favour to ask: if you have time and you have read Animal Crackers or Invisible Dogs, would you consider leaving an honest review on either the Waterstones or Amazon website? Reviews REALLY help authors and illustrators apparently so it’s a nice free way of showing appreciation (or criticism!).

Au Revoir!